Get Rid Of Cable: Streaming Media Services

Streaming Media Services

Stream Now TV

One of our favorite streaming media services Stream Now TV is a new content curation service that finds the best “best web based shows and films to watch on your time.” With the consent of the content creators Stream Now TV has gathered a great collection of content from all over the internet. Stream Now TV is one of the most unique and fastest growing streaming media services in the market today, and it it totally free. Available for PC/Mac, iOS, Android, and Roku Stream Now TV should be your first stop when you get rid of cable.

Netflix

The original streaming media services and staple alternative to cable TV: Netflix is the leader and pioneer in delivering streaming movies and TV and for many people it is synonymous with in home entertainment.

Amazon Prime Instant Video

Of all of the current streaming media services Amazon Prime Instant Video has the largest catalog of television and movies to choose from, including the ability to rent new releases and purchase a download of most anything they have available. At $99 a year which come out to about $8.25 a month and in addition to the fantastic Instant Video you get free shipping on most Amazon products which can pay itself off with a single purchase in some cases.

Hulu+

No cord cutter’s streaming media services package is complete without Hulu+. Hulu+ gives you access to currently airing shows on most major networks, highly rated original programming, full archives of classic shows and much more.

WWE Network

There are an ever growing number of niche specific streaming media services, WWE Network is my favorite, and is a great example of what streaming media services are all about. The WWE Network offers great benefits to subscribers, the biggest of which is that it offers all of the company’s monthly PPV events (now called “Specials”) as part of the monthly subscription. Even though you have to make a 6-month commitment when you sign up for the network, a cost of $60 spread out over those 6 months, the premiere annual event, WrestleMania, alone costs around that much to order on PPV. So if someone were to order WrestleMania annually the network pays for itself with this one event. In addition to PPV events, WWE network offers live original programming, network exclusive documentaries and specials, pre- and post-show coverage of its flagship cable program Monday Night RAW, and a variety of other live events.

For many WWE fans, the main draw for the network isn’t the live programming, but the WWE archives. At launch, WWE offered every PPV they have ever produced as well as every PPV produced by former competitors WCW and ECW. This in addition to older television shows gives subscribers thousands of hours of content to watch. As of right now, WWE has barely scratched the surface of adding content that they own the rights to, so WWE should be able to keep wrestling fans happy for years to come.

M-GO

The number of services that provide streaming media options seems to grow every day. In the past we have talked about Amazon Instant Video, and Netflix. Today we are going to be talking about a relatively new kid on the steaming media block M-GO.

People I talk to about how to get rid of cable know of my fondness for the Roku 3 and if you have taken my advice and have picked up the awesomeness that is Roku 3 you may have noticed that M-GO has become the Roku preferred provider for movies and TV; scrolling through the main menu on your Roku 3 you will find it under “Movies” and “TV” as well as listed with all of your other channels.

Crackle

Considering that Crackle is one of the totally free streaming media services the movie selection is quite good. Though they don’t have anything too recent but they have movies that are 2 – 3 years old and many older mainstream hit movies, enough to keep you busy if this were your only option and occasionally some things you won’t find on Netflix, Amazon, or Redbox. The TV selection is still pretty slim and while they have some big name selections like Seinfeld or Married With Children it is only select episodes and not the entire series… it kind of reminds me of those “Best of…” DVD sets that were released in the late 1990’s when studios weren’t totally sold on the idea of people watching TV show episodes back to back.